Charges dropped against legislator

Updated 11:44 pm, Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Domestic-violence charges filed against state Rep. Brenda Kupchick for an alleged fight with her sister are were dropped on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013.

Domestic-violence charges filed against state Rep. Brenda Kupchick for an alleged fight with her sister are were dropped on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013.

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Charges dropped against legislator

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BRIDGEPORT -- A Fairfield state representative walked free from the courtroom Wednesday after state prosecutors dropped domestic violence charges against her.

"We feel this is the appropriate way to resolve this case," Senior Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Dunn told Judge Melanie Cradle in effectively dropping the case against Brenda Kupchick, who had been accused of assaulting her younger sister following a family picnic.

Later, outside the Golden Hill Street courtroom, Kupchick stood by smiling as her lawyer, John Ryan, addressed the media.

"We worked within the system to reach a resolution that will hopefully result in neither party being back in the courtroom again," Ryan said.

Asked the cause of the incident, Ryan would only say, "Things happen in a family, and we will leave it at that."

But Kupchick's sister, Lisa Fabrizi, was not happy with the court ruling.

Kupchick, 48, a leading advocate in the General Assembly for tough domestic violence laws, was charged on Aug. 17 with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct following a fight with Fabrizi, 42, after a family picnic at Kupchick's Farist Road, Fairfield, home.

Police said the dispute briefly turned physical as Kupchick scratched Fabrizi's face while attempting to "prevent her sister from doing something not in her best interest."

On Wednesday morning, Kupchick nodded her head in agreement when the judge asked her if she knew that, in accordance with the nolle granted in her case, she could be reprosecuted on the charges if she is arrested again within the year. If no other action is taken on it within 13 months, the case is automatically dismissed.

Dunn told the judge the case is being handled like any other domestic violence case.

"Miss Kupchick felt at the time she was protecting her two young nieces, so it is not a case that we are interested in prosecuting because of those circumstances," he said.

But hours after the court hearing, Fabrizi was clearly not happy.

"My sister falsely accused me of drinking during the party and then she hit me," Fabrizi said. "She made false accusations that I was drinking, but I passed a police sobriety test and I drove my two daughters home that night. She hit me, do you get that?"